Signal operating means for elevators



Sept. 12, 1933. H. F. RICHARDSON SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Original Filed Aug. 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l Sept 1933- H. F. RICHARDSON 1,926,176

SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Original Filed Aug. 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 12, 1933. H. F. RICHARDSON I SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Original Filed Aug. 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 QN \N NR 22 bma/ iv J H t S Sept. 12, 1933. H. F. RICHARDSON SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Original Filed Aug. 9. 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN'I'OR BY Z ATTORNEY P 1933- H. F. RICHARDSON SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Original Filed Aug. 9, 1926 g 5 I F 1 I I I I a 1 I I I I I I I I Q Patented Sept. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SIGNAL OPERATING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS Henry F. Richardson, Northport, N. Y.

Serial No. 445,811

21 Claims.

The present invention has relation to means whereby signal lights or the like are automatically set at the various fioors of a building to indicate the approach of an elevator to each floor and to distinguish between an upward and a downward bound elevator.

One well known type of apparatus hitherto used for this purpose is exemplified, for instance, in the United States patent to Smalley and Reiners, No. 826,752, dated July 24th, 1906. In this type of apparatus the reversible motive means for the elevator is connected with a threaded driving shaft, which is connected with the primary elevator mechanism and so caused to revolve slowly in one direction or the other, while the elevator cage is moving up or down.

Acarriage is mounted upon this shaft upon which are carried the movable members of one or more switches which cooperate with fixed bus bars on opposite sides of the carriage to govern electric circuits controlling the lights or other signals on the various floors. When the movable. switch members on the carriage are in contact with the fixed bus bars on one side, they control signals indicating the approach of a rising elevator cage; and when these contacts touch the bus bars on the other side, they control signals indicating the approach of a downwardly moving cage.

The carriage is caused to tilt into contact with one or "he other set of bus bars by frictional engagement with the threaded shaft upon which it is mounted and by which it is slowly driven along the bus bars in one direction or the other. In consequence, each reversal of movement of the elevator cage, and therefore of the threaded shaft, operates to throw the movable contacts on the carriage against the bus bars corresponding -to signals indicating approach from above or below as the case may be.

The use of signal apparatus of this type has been found to involve a number of practical disadvantages which it is the object of the present invention to avoid.

In the first place, in order to insure prompt and certain tilting of the contact-carrying carriage, it is necessary to establish a firm frictional engagement between this carriage and the threaded shaft by which it is carried and driven. Such engagement is inconsistent with lubrication of the shaft, and the result is that the parts are subject to undue wear and soon become noisy. To avoid this, the engineer in charge is apt to oil the shaft and, friction being thus impaired, the operation of the devices becomes uncertain, and the necessary synchronism between the carriage and the elevator cage is destroyed.

Another objection found in actual practice is due to the fact that the operator of an elevator cage is frequently called upon to return to a floor after passing it a short distance. The reversal of the threaded shaft on which the carriage is mounted incident to such a return tilts the carriage, and, on returning in this way to a floor, with the commonly used system, a signal light is shown on the floor which is the opposite of the actual destination of the car. Thus, if the car is upward bound, waiting passengers are deceived into thinking it is a downbound car. This occasions delay and irritation, with frequent unnecessary complaints.

In order to overcome this objection, means have been devised to prevent reversal of the carriage except at the top and bottom floors of a building. Where all the floors are occupied this expedient is fairly successful, but in many new buildings, only the lower floors are occupied at first, and it wastes time and money to be obliged to run past empty floors to the top of the building in order to accomplish reversal of the signaling apparatus.

By the use of my improvement the operating shaft may be lubricated, thus saving wear and noise. The cage may return to a given floor from a reasonable predetermined distance without reversing the lights, and reversal may be certainly and positively accomplished at any desired point in the elevator shaft, thus making it possible to operate successfully in partly filled new buildings without obliging the operator to run all the way to the top past empty floors in order to make his signals work properly.

In its broadest aspect, my invention rests in the substitution of magnetic attraction for friction. The member by which are carried the movable contacts of the automatic switch is carried, preferably, upon a threaded shaft, as in the earlier devices above alluded to, but, instead of relying upon the frictional effect of contact between this member and the threaded shaft to throw the switch one way or the other,

I provide means whereby temporary magnetic attraction, which is far stronger and more reliable than friction causes the normal movement of the threaded shaft to throw the switch.

At the same time, when the elevator cage is running in either direction, without reversal, there exists only a minimum of frictional engagement between said shaft and the switch contact carrying member. Lubrication can thus be freely employed with great lessening of wear and tear.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred form by way of example in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a top plan view of one end of a complete automatic switch made in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2 is an end view of the same with the movable contacts removed for greater clearness, Fig. 3 is a partial vertical longitudinal section of the device shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the device taken on the line 44 in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a partial transverse sectional view of the same, and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electrical circuits in a general way.

A general idea of my improvement with relation to its points of resemblance with the prior art may be had from Fig. 2.

The usual fixed electric contacts or bus-bars are suitably located in a well known manner upon insulating supports 10 and 11 on opposite sides of the threaded shaft 12, which is operatively connected in any well known manner with the mechanism that drives the corresponding elevator cage, so as to turn in one direction when the cage is moving downward and in the opposite direction when the cage is moving upward. It will be assumed that rotation in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 corresponds to upward movement of the cage and vice-versa. Consequently, the bus-bars utilized to produce the signals which give warning of the approach of an upwardly bound car will be located on the base 10. Those utilized to announce the approach of a downwardly bound car will be carried on the base 11.

Upon the threaded shaft 12 there rides loosely a carriage 13 having lateral arms 14 and 15 by which are carried the movable contact terminals hereinafter described. On this carriage 13 there are also mounted solenoid coils 16 having cores 17 which normally lie lightly upon the shaft 12. The lower ends of these cores are shaped to fit the shaft 12 on the outside only of the threads (see Fig. 5) and, when the solenoid coils 16 are energized, these cores are very strongly united by magnetism with the steel shaft 12, so that the solenoids 16 and carriage 13, together with the arms 14 and 15 necessarily turn with the shaft.

The magnetic engagement between the carriage and the shaft is, of course, a temporary one, and in my claims, the word "temporary" is used to mean substantially long enough. to accomplish the changes in electrical connections required on reversal of the direction of movement of the elevator car.

Close to one end of the carriage 13 a nut 18 is provided which is threaded on the shaft 12, and has a downward extension 19 straddling the longitudinal bar 20, whereby the nut is prevented from turning with the shaft 12. The turning )f this shaft will therefore drive the nut 18 one way or the other along said shaft and along the bar 20.

The nut 18 is intended to move the carriage 13, along the shaft 12. For appropriate opera tion, as hereinafter described, however, this operative connection is accomplished with a certain amount of lost motion (for both movements mentioned) as follows.

The carriage 13 has a downward extension 21 which is straddled by horizontal arms 22 on the nut 18 (see Fig. 3 and dotted lines in Fig. 2).

There is enough space on each side of the extension 21, between it and the arms 22 to permit a certain amount of relative rocking movement, or lost motion, between the nut 18 and the carriage 13.

The arms 22 are joined at their outer ends by a set screw 23 whereby they may be clamped tightly down upon a stop screw 24 which makes threaded engagement with a downward extension of said arms (see Figs. 3 and 4). As clearly shown in Fig. 3, the extension 21 on the carriage 13 touches the end of the stop screw 24 in the position shown in that figure, while there is an appreciable space, affording lost motion, between said extension and the nut 18.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 4, the usual bus-bars 25, 26, for carrying current to the warning signals on the various floors and in the elevator car are shown mounted parallel to the shaft 12 on the insulating bases 10 and 11 respectively. The spring-pressed movable contacts 27, 23, are adapted to make operative contact respectively with the bus-bars 25, 26, according as the carriage 13 is tipped one way or the other.

In prior devices of this kind, the tipping of the carriage carrying these movable contacts served to carry those on one side away from their bus-bars, while pressing those on the other side against the opposite bus-bars. My invention may be embodied in a structure which so operates, if desired, but I prefer the structure shown, wherein the operation depends upon a sliding movement vertically over the flat faces of the bus-bars, without entirely removing the movable contacts by the tilting of the carriage 13.

As shown in the drawings, the movable contacts 27, 28 are carried respectively by supports 29, 30, pivotally fixed to the arms 14 and 15 on the carriage 13. When the elevator cage is moving up (for instance) the pairs of contacts 27 bear upon separate and contiguous bus-bars, and the requisite up-bound electric signal circuits (not shown) are supplied with current. At the same time, the down-bound contacts 28, on the opposite side are elevated to a position in which both members of each pair of contacts bear upon the same bus-bar, in which condition, of course, no current will pass.

In this position, as the shaft 12 turns, the nut 13 pushes the carriage 13 along said shaft, and the contacts 27 cooperate with the bus-bars 25, in a well known manner, to produce a signal at each fioor in succession, or in response to calls the cage gets, say, a floor and a half away. it will be understood, of course, that the carriage 13 moves very slowly, and that a short travel thereof along the shaft 12 corresponds to movement from one floor to another of the elevator cage.

At the two extremities of the shaft 12, corresponding to the extreme positions of the elevator cage in its shaft, nuts 31 and 32 are screwed into place on the shaft, and are firmly fixed thereon, so as to revolve therewith, by means of the set screws 33, 34 (see Fig. 3). There nut-s have in clined: faces 35 and. 36, so placed, as to make engagement with similar inclined faces 3''! and 33 on the carriage 13 and nut 18 respectively, when these elements reach their extreme positions. The nuts 31 and 32 thus act by their revolution to tilt the carriage 13 one way or the other at the end of its travel, to reverse the signal switch connections preparatory to reverse travel of the elevator cage and carriage 13. This is well known in the art, and needs no further description here.

As has already been stated, it is desirable to provide means so that this reversal of switch may be accomplished whenever the elevator car changes from upbound to downbound, or viceversa. At the same time, my invention accomplishes this in such a manner that a temporary reversal of travel, to return to a floor that has been passed by mistake shall not reverse the switch. These ends are accomplished as follows:(see particularly Figs. 1, 3, and 6).

Normally the nut 18 simply propels the carriage l3 smoothly along the shaft 12, said carriage being tilted one way or the other to make suitable connection with one or the other set of bus-bars 25, 26.

When the car has made a complete journey in one direction as far as desired, and it starts in the opposite direction to begin another journey, the nut 18 travels far enough (say to the left in Fig. 3) to take up the lost motion between it and the extension 21 on the carriage 13, after which continued movement of the nut slightly reverses the movement of the carriage and brings one of the angular switch members 39, 40, carried by the carriage against the bridging contact 41 carried by the nut 18 (see Fig. 6). This closes electric circuit preferably from a special bus-bar 42, by wire 43, solenoid coils 16, contacts 40, 41 and 39 in the switch, and wire 44 to another special bus-bar 45. As the bus-bars 42 and 45 are permanently connected with the main electric wires 48 and 47, plus and minus, the solenoid coils 16 are energized and the carriage 13 is firmly secured by magnetism to the shaft 12.

The carriage 13 will at once begin to turn with the shaft 12, bringing into operative position the main switch contacts 28, and sliding the contacts 27 into inoperative position.

At the same time the angular contacts 39 and 40 on the carriage will be tilted in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6, and, the connection between the contact 39 and the bridging contact 41 will be broken. This will deenergize the solenoid coils 16, and the carriage 13 will be again free to slide along the shaft 12.

As will be seen from inspection of Fig. 6, .when the circuit is thus broken at the right of the switch 39, 40, the bridging contact 41 will be in a position to make a contact on the left side when another reversal takes place.

Owing, however, to the material space between the opposite contact positions in this switch, the car may be reversed for some distance before the new contact is made which again energizes the signal system. This lost motion makes it possible to return a car to any floor after having passed it for a short distance, without reversing the signal system and giving a wrong impression of the destination of the elevator cage during the particular up or down trip then in progress.

The distance from which a car can be made to return to a floor without causing reversal of the floor signals is made adjustable at will by adjusting the amount of lost motion between the nut 18 and the downward extension 21 on the carriage 13, and by making a corresponding adjustment of the distance that the termi-- nal 41 has to travel between contacting positions with 39 and 40 on opposite sides.

The first named lost motion is adjusted by regulating the adjusting screw 24 (see Fig. 3).

One means for adjusting the degree of lost motion in the solenoid switch 39, 40, 41, is indicated in Fig. 1.

Here it will be seen there is a modified form of switch comprising the angular members 39c and 40a, mounted upon a base 48, upon which they may be adjusted in difierent positions, being held by screws 49. In this switch the contacts 39a, 40a, are both connected by Wire 50 to the solenoid coils 16, which are connected with a special bus-bar 51 by wire 52. The movable member 41a on the nut 18 is connected by the wire 53 with another special bus-bar 54. The angular members 39, 40, or 39a, 40a, are preferably made resilient to allow for accommodating their adjustment with that of the lost motion between the extension 21 and the screw 24.

This application is a continuation of the joint application Serial No. 128,110, filed August 9, 1926 by myself and Harold W. Shonnard.

Various changes might be made in the apparatus herein shown and described without departing from the scope of my invention; and I do not limit myself to the details herein shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In an electrical signal system for elevators, a main switch having two separate sets of stationary contacts, signal circuits passing through each of said sets of stationary contacts, and a movable circuit closing member shiftable from one position in which it controls one of said sets of circuits to the other position in which it controls the other set of circuits, means for propelling said circuit-closing member in synchronism with the travel of an elevator, electro-magnetic means for binding said circuit closing member with said propelling means, whereby said propelling means is caused to shift said circuit closingmember from one position to the other, and means for energr'ing said electromagnetic means.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 in combination with means operated by said propelling means for operating said energizing means.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1 in combination with means operated by said propelling means for operating said energizing means, and means operated by a reversal of movement of said propelling means corresponding to a reversal of movement of an elevator for a predetermined distance, to cause the operation of said lastnamed means.

4. In an electrical signal system for elevators, a threaded shaft, a main switch carriage thereon, means actuated by the shaft for moving said switch carriage along the shaft, and a reversing device for the main switch, said reversing device comprising electro-magnetic means for binding said carriage on said shaft.

5. Apparatus as in claim 4, further including a connection between said actuating means and said carriage admitting of limited independent movement of said parts, whereby to permit lost motion of said actuating means before actuating said carriage.

6. Apparatus as in claim 4 wherein the actuating means is a nut threaded upon the shaft.

7. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said means for propelling the circuit closing member comprises a threaded shaft and means for rotating said shaft in unison with the rotation of the elevator hoisting mechanism, and wherein said movable circuit closing member comprises a carriage slidably mounted on said threaded shaft, a nut threaded on said shaft and means attached to said nut for engagement with said carriage.

8. Apparatus as in claim 4 wherein the shaftactuated means is a nut having a limited idle movement, with relation to said carriage abutments thereon on opposite sides of a part on said carriage, and an adjusting member on one of said abutments.

9. In an elevator signal system, a rotatable threaded shaft, a main switch carriage slidably mounted thereon, a nut threaded on said shaft for moving said carriage, and electro-magnetic means on the carriage for binding the same with the shaft; in combination with a control switch for said electro-magnetic means, said controlswitch comprising parts mounted upon, and moved into and out of contact by relative movements between, the carriage and nut.

10. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the control switch comprises two contact members of different lengths mounted on the carriage, and a contact member between them carried on the nut, whereby relative swinging movement between the carriage and nut brings the contact member on the nut out of the line of contact with one of the contact members on the carriage.

11. Apparatus in claim 9 wherein the contact switch comprises two contact members on the carriage on opposite sides of a contact member on the nut, said first-named members being adjustable as to the distance between them.

12. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein the control switch comprises two slidable angular contact members mounted upon a common support on the carriage, and having means to fix the same at different distances apart.

13. In an elevator signal system, a car operating between a plurality of floors, signals for said floors indicating upward and downward movement of said car respectively, circuits for said signals, circuit-controlling means therefor comprising movable contact means, means for moving said contact means over a predetermined path by and in accordance with the movement of said car, a set of stationary contacts in said up signal circuits, a set of stationary contacts in said down signal circuits, means mounting said sets of contacts for cooperation with said movable contact means and spacing the contacts of each set in the direction of movement of said movable contact means, means for shifting the movable contact means to cooperate with only the up set of contacts or with only the down set of contacts selectively in accordance with changes in the direction of movement of the car only after said car has traveled a predetermined distance in the new direction.

14. In an elevator signal system, a car operating between a plurality of floors, signals for said floors indicating upward and downward move ment of said car respectively, circuits for said signals, circuit controlling means therefor comprising movable switches, means for moving said switches in syn'chronism with said car, means for shifting said movable switches transversely with respect to their normal path of movement to control only the up signal circuits or only the down signal circuits selectively in accordance with changes in the direction of movement of the car, and means for delaying the action of said shifting means until after said car has traveled a pre-det-ermined distance in the new direction.

15. In an elevator signal system, a car operating between a plurality of floors, signals for said floors indicating upward and downward movement of said car respectively, circuits for said signals, circuit controlling means therefor, comprising a set of contacts in said up signal circuits, and a set of contacts in said down signal circuits, a feed screw turning one way or another in accordance with the up or down movement of said car, a carriage driven back and forth by said feed-screw, contact means on said carriage adapted to coact with said. sets of contacts, and means for shifting said carriage to cause the contact means thereon to cooperate with said set of up signal contacts when driven in one direction and to cooperate with said set of down signal contacts when driven in the other, said shifting means comprising an electromagnet adapted when energized to bind said carriage to said feed-screw whereby said feedscrew shifts said carriage in the direction in which it is turned.

16. A combination according to claim 15, wherein said carriage comprises two parts, a connection between said parts admitting of a limited independent movement of one part with relation to the other, and circuit controlling parts on said carriage parts adapted to make the circuit through said electromagnet upon relative movement of said carriage parts following a reversal of movement of said feed-screw.

17. A combination according to claim 15, wherein said carriage comprises two parts, a connection between said parts admitting of a limited independent movement of one of said parts with relation to the other, and circuit controlling parts on said carriage parts adapted to make the circuit through said electromagnet upon relative movement of said carriage parts following a reversal of movement of said feedscrew, one of said carriage-parts carrying said electromagnet and moving angularly with relation to the other when shifted through the action of said electromagnet, said circuit-controlling parts on said carriage being moved to break the circuit following said angular movement of said carriage parts.

18. A combination according to claim 15 wherein said carriage comprises two parts, a connection between said parts admitting of a limited independent movement of one of said parts with relation to the other, and circuitcontrolling parts on said carriage parts adapted to make the circuit through said electromagnet upon relative movement of said feed-screw parts following a reversal of movement of said carriage, one of said carriage-parts carrying said electromagnet and moving angularly with relation to the other when shifted through the action of said electromagnet, said circuit-controlling parts on said carriage being moved to break the circuit following said angular movement of said carriage parts, said connection between said carriage parts being loose to provide an amount of independent movement of said parts corresponding to a movement of said car of a substantial amount less than the distance between two floors.

19. In a floor selector for elevator control systems, a base, an arm movable over said base in correspondence with the movement of an elevator, a set of contact segments spaced along said base in the direction of movement of said movable member, a second set of contact segments spaced along said base in the direction of movement of said movable member, means for mounting said movable member for movement into engagement With either of said sets of segments, and magnetic means operable responsive to the direction of movement of the elevator for determining Which of said sets of contact segments is to be engaged.

20. In a fioor selector for elevator control systems, a base, an arm movable over said base in correspondence with the movement of an elevator, a set of contact segments spaced along said base in the direction of movement of said movable member, a second set of contact segments spaced along said base in the direction of movement of said movable member, means for mounting the said movable member for movement into engagement with either of said sets of segments, magnetic means operable responsive to the direction of movement of the elevator for determining which of said sets of contact segments is to be engaged, and means operable responsive to the arrival of the elevator at the ends of its path of movement for reversing the sets of contact segments engaged.

21. In an elevator signal system, a rotatable threaded shaft, a main switch carriage, said switch carriage being movable along and around said shaft, a nut threaded on said shaft for moving said carriage, and electro-magnetic means on the carriage for binding the same with the shaft; in combination with a control-switch for said electro-magnetic means, said control-switch comprising parts mounted upon the carriage and nut, said control-switch parts being arranged to move to a closed position upon relative longitudinal movement of the carriage and nut, and to move to an open position upon movement of said carriage around said shaft.

HENRY F. RICHARDSON. 

